“No, of course not.”
He answers the call. With the silence of the night and the volume level on his phone, I’m able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. It sounds like he’s gotten into an argument with his mom over pumping gas. That can’t be right. I do clearly hear him ask if he can come over and stay with him tonight, though.
“Don’t turn into your sister, Gregory. Just hang out in your room for the night. If you see your mom or Glenn, be respectful and civil. That’s all you have to do. You didn’t do anything wrong and I’m on your side, but there’s no need to run away from home.” He pauses and after a moment, he sighs. “Yes, I’ll talk to your mother.” One more pause, he tells his son he loves him and hangs up.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. Gregory just embarrassed his mother’s boyfriend, Glenn. They went out to dinner, but stopped for gas. When Glenn made no move to get out to pump it for her and it was obvious his mom was going to do it, Gregory jumped to do it. The problem is he made a comment about how a real man wouldn’t allow her to pump gas. I guess Glenn later made a comment to Shannon about how he was embarrassed and she got on Gregory about it. Bet you five bucks she’ll call and blame this on me.”
I frown. “Why would it be your fault?”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Where do you think Gregory learned that mindset from? That if he’s with a girl, he should pump the gas for her?”
“But it’s nice that he does those things.”
“I know,” he agrees as his phone rings with a call from Shannon. I know because he holds up his phone to show me. He ignores her call and silences the ringer. “I’ll deal with her tomorrow. Mind if I ask you if you’re feeling better?” This time, I nod and that earns me a smile. “Good.”
We walk the rest of the way in silence until we reach his house and Brent invites me inside. I, of course, don’t turn him down.
Shannon repeatedly kept calling, so I stepped away to dea
l with her and make the calls stop. Oh, the joys of telling an ex-wife she’s wrong to tell a sixteen-year-old not to have manners. Sure, Gregory could’ve kept his mouth shut, but that ultimately isn’t what she made an issue about. I despise these conversations with her, especially since she’s extra resistant to anything I say, but if I need to defend my kids, I will and do.
When I return to the living room, I find Jamie lying on the couch, a throw pillow tucked under her head while she sleeps. I grab the blanket from the back of the recliner, lay it over her, and head upstairs for a quick shower. I should probably wake her up and send her on her way back to campus, but she’s had quite the day. The last thing I want to do is disrupt her sleep.
Jamie ran with all her might and I’m not so sure she would’ve stopped any time soon, had she not reached that dead end. She ran like someone was chasing her, like she couldn’t get away from whatever it was fast enough. She did slow down a few times, but it’s as if her thoughts would get away with her, and she’d speed back up once more.
She’s still asleep after my shower. I shake her shoulder and call her name, but that only causes her to roll over and face the back of the couch, settling in to get more comfortable. After I walk to my room to pull the sheets back, I return to her side. If she’s pissed in the morning for me not trying harder to wake her up, I’ll deal with it. Otherwise, she can keep sleeping and I’ll wake her up with plenty of time to go back to campus.
With it settled in my mind, I bend and lift her into my arms. It doesn’t faze her at all as her head knocks into my shoulder. I hold my breath, as if she’ll wake up at any second and freak out because she’s not where she fell asleep. But she stays asleep as I lay her in my bed, cover her up, and set my alarm to wake her up, just in case I don’t wake up first. She rolls over, hugging my pillow, takes a deep breath, and doesn’t move again.
I grab the other pillow, some sheets from the hallway closet, and walk back to the living room to my bed for the night: the couch. Sleeping on the couch isn’t unfamiliar to me. I’ve done it plenty of times at the shop, and once Shannon told me she wanted to end things, I slept on the couch if I was at home. But sleeping on my couch in my own home throughout the night? Haven’t done that.
Let’s just hope it doesn’t bite me in the ass, somehow.
At first, I feel a hand lightly squeeze my arm and then a brief kiss on my cheek. The smell of sausage lingers in the room and rouses my stomach.
“Brent?” The hand jostles my shoulder and I open my eyes enough to peer at Jamie standing and leaning over in front of me. “Thanks for letting me sleep. I hope it’s okay that I let you sleep in a little.” That makes me open my eyes some more. She let me sleep in? What time is it then? “I have to get back to campus, but I wanted to let you know I was leaving and I made you breakfast.” Which explains why I smell food.
I sit up and glance at the clock on the wall. It’s seven. I set the alarm upstairs for six thirty. I’ll be late for work. Not that it matters, or that I’ll actually be late, but compared to when I normally get there and when my brothers get there, I’ll be late.
“You’re not staying to eat?” I ask, rubbing my face and then running a hand through my hair.
“No time. I need a shower and my class is an early one today.”
I frown. “You can’t cook for me and not eat some of it.” I stand and head to the kitchen to see what she made. Pancakes and sausage. I grab a paper towel, put two pancakes on it and haphazardly wrap it as if it’s a sandwich. “Here. A pancake sandwich. You can eat while you drive, just be careful.”
Jamie laughs. “Sure thing, boss,” she says with a roll of her eyes as she takes the pancakes from me. “Thanks. I also raided your bathroom and stole one of your unopened toothbrushes, so that’s why there’s a new toothbrush in there.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, I really have to go now.” She steps so close, she would be invading my space if it wasn’t for the fact she’s Jamie and I don’t mind. One second she smiles at me and the next, she lifts up to kiss me. It doesn’t even start sweet and innocent. She attacks with passion and sensuality right off the bat. My arms lock around her like they always seem to do when her mouth touches mine and I’m seconds away from sitting her on the counter when she pulls away. “Bye, Brent.”
“Have a good day, Jamie,” I tell her as she walks away. She flashes me a smile and then she’s gone. I glance at the food. I can’t remember the last time someone made food just for me. I definitely won’t let it go to waste. There’s no harm in being late to work every now and then.
Except, apparently there is.
My brothers both stare at me like I’m an alien once I get to the shop. “What?” I snap after about ten minutes of it, though I know exactly what they’ll say.